


Tame Your Nightmares

by fandomlander



Category: Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Enemies to Lovers, Fluff, M/M, Snark, Supreme Leader Kylo Ren, sleep deprived Hux
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-14
Updated: 2018-02-14
Packaged: 2019-03-13 15:38:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,132
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13573635
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fandomlander/pseuds/fandomlander
Summary: When Hux passes out on the bridge, Supreme Leader Ren takes this matter into his own hands. Together with Hux, he tries to find a sollution to Hux's sleep problems.





	Tame Your Nightmares

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Dangsoo](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dangsoo/gifts).



> This fic was written for the Kylux Valentines Exchange 2018, and it is a gift for @Dangsoo  
> I had a great time writing it and I hope you like it! <3
> 
> Prompt: Hux passes out from sheer exhaustion on the bridge

It all started when Hux passed out, right in the middle of the bridge for all to see, from exhaustion.

He had always had trouble sleeping. Reasons wide and varying; for one, he found his duties more important than sleep. Then there were also the nightmares that kept him up in those little hours he did sleep.  
Nightmares of irrational things that shouldn’t really pose nightmares, but for some reason did. Snoke, the force, even Ren at times. Himself, dying, time and time again. Him dying at the hand of Ren was a frequent one, lately.

After the return from Crait, the nightmares had amplified.  
The hours he had for sleep barely existed after all the chaos the First Order found themselves in after that debacle.  
Then when he got the chance, he’d wake up from those nightmares after just a few hours of sleep. Not even nearly enough.

Now, after years of irregular sleep, it was all finally catching up with him and Hux found himself on his way for a performance interview with newly appointed Supreme Leader Ren.

Why Ren now all of a sudden demanded a performance interview was beyond Hux. Snoke had never demanded such a thing.

It was with a heavy heart and much reluctance that Hux opened the door to the meeting room where Ren had told him to be.  
He was precisely on time, as always and was surprised to see that Ren was already seated, waiting for him. That was a first.

“General Hux,” Ren said sternly, “do come in and sit down.”

Hux did so, seating himself opposite of Ren so that most of the table sat between them. He was already starting to feel annoyed at the prospect of having a conversation with Ren. After all, since Ren had been Supreme Leader, conversation hadn’t gone exactly smoothly between them and Hux’ side was still hurting from that time he had been cast aside with the force aboard the shuttle on Crait.

He cleared his voice, determined to at least stay professional. “Supreme Leader. What is the meaning of this?”

It was still strange to stare at the face of Ren, after all the years it had been hidden behind a mask.

“I felt the need to schedule in this performance interview after I heard whispers aboard the Finalizer of you having fainted on the bridge.”

“Fainted?” Hux scoffed, annoyed at Ren and his superior way of handling himself -after all the kriffing tantrums Hux had to witness!- it threatened to overtake his carefully orchestrated calm, “I did not faint! I passed out. There is a difference, I’ll have you know.”

“I don’t see how there is much of a difference, General, but you don’t deny it then?”

There was a smugness in Ren’s tone. As if he was almost pleased to learn a weakness in Hux.

Hux willed himself to remain calm in the face of that annoying excuse for a Supreme Leader. “I don’t deny passing out, no. I also don’t see why-”

“Why this is my concern?” Ren interjected.

“Yes,” Hux said, slightly annoyed at how predictable he apparently was to Ren. Or was Ren perhaps using the force…

“It is my concern, because I am the Supreme Leader now. You are under my command and as such it is my business when you  _faint_ on my bridge, aboard my ship.”

_His ship_. Hux’s nostrils flared. “You just couldn’t wait to rub that in, could you?”

A slight pull from Ren’s lips into a grin. “I don’t know what you mean, General. Now, to the point, I expect that in the future, you won’t faint on the bridge anymore. Nor anywhere else on my ship for that matter. Don’t be a nuisance, General. I advise you get more sleep. Understood?”

_Kriffing bastard!_ “Understood, Supreme Leader.”

“Good… you are dismissed then, General, back to your duties you go.”

Hux wanted to jump up and throttle Ren, but instead he got up and left the room. Returning to the bridge, to resume his duties.

  
—

  
It was no more then two weeks after that dreaded conversation, that Hux passed out once more. Again, while he was on duty on the bridge. Again, from sleep deprivation.

When he awoke in the medbay, he found himself looking up at Ren, who was standing beside his bed and looked very impatient.

“Fainted again, General?” came the taunt. Or threat. Hux wasn’t awake enough to notice the difference… and with Ren, it could have been both.

Hux sat up in the small cot. “Apologies, Supreme Leader…” he forced out with great difficulty.

“I warned you about this,” Ren said.

A threat this time, for sure.

Hux felt his heartbeat speeding up, as he remembered how Ren had choked him with the force before. Was Ren planning on doing something alike? Was he planning to get rid of Hux, now that he proved himself -as Ren had put it- a nuisance?

“You are the General. An important man; imperative to the First Order, yet you keep fainting during duty. Which is not very professional, General.” Ren said, emphasizing the rank. “Whatever shall we do about that? Clearly, getting more sleep hasn’t helped or you wouldn’t have fainted a second time.”

Hux was reeling from the multitude of insults. He was also annoyed with Ren using the word ‘faint’. He had passed out, for kriff sake! Fainting made him sound like some damsel in distress. He was also very sure that Ren knew exactly how Hux felt about that word and that this was why Ren insisted on using the word ‘faint’ in the first place.

“What are you planning to do then, choke me to death and throw my dead corpse out of an airlock?” Hux spat.

Ren blinked at him. A grin playing at his lips. “Such dramatics, General. I would never.”

“You choked me before!”

“I was under a great deal of stress!” Ren shouted back, sounding immediately like the child Hux knew him to be.

Ah, Hux reasoned, so perhaps Ren was trying to be more mature. Now that he had claimed the title of Supreme Leader.  
Perhaps that was why he was taking this matter into his own hands as well.

“Tell me why you don’t get enough sleep,” Ren demanded, sounding petulant, “is it your working cycles? I can change those.”

“I already cut back on those after you ordered me to get more sleep after the last time I passed out,” Hux bit, “it’s not that, not just that, anyways…”

“Then what?” Ren said, impatient.

Hux stared at him, reluctant to admit what was going on. Yet it seemed he didn’t have a choice, really. Ren had a way of finding things out and he didn’t want Ren to sneak a peek at the nature of his nightmares.

“I have nightmares,” Hux uttered angrily.

Ren stared at him abashed. “What?”

“Nightmares!” Hux barked, “Bad dreams, you know. Is that concept not clear to you?!”

“I know what nightmares are!” Ren countered, “I’m just surprised that someone like you has them!”

“Everyone can have nightmares, Ren!”

There was a silence after that, where they both just stared at one another. Both angry.

Then Ren broke the silence. “Alright. Well, I suppose we’ll just have to find a way for the nightmares to stop.”

“It’s not that easy, I can’t just will them away,” Hux said, his eyes rolling in frustration. He stepped out of the medbay cot.

“I know that,” Ren sighed deeply, “but I know a way.”

“You know a way to stop nightmares?” Hux asked. “How?” Hux was interested now in what Ren had to say. Also a first.

“I will meet you in your rooms at the start of your rest cycle. I’ll explain then,” Ren said, before he strode off. At the entrance of the medbay he halted, though, and turned back. “Wear a training outfit not your uniform, General.”

Hux felt both reluctance and anticipation of what would await him at the start of rest cycle…

  
—

  
“Sit down on the floor, legs crossed,” Ren said strict.

Hux did as he was told. He was wearing loose training pants and a tank top. Both black, and both regulation.  
Ren had been inside his room for mere moments and he was already commanding Hux around like he owned the place. Then again, Hux thought bitterly, if the Finalizer was now Ren’s ship then he supposed these rooms were technically his as well.

“Stop thinking about idiotic things, General,” Ren said. That hated grin playing on his lips.

The bastard was peeking into his thoughts? “Stay out of my mind, Ren!”

“I will… eventually, but for now I need to know your thoughts; because I’ll need you to relax. And I will need to know if you’re cheating my orders.”

Ren was in the same outfit as Hux, which was a distraction Hux was not trying to think about.  
But as soon as he ‘tried not to think about it’ he knew Ren had heard it in his mind.  
It awarded him a sly smile, but nothing was said of it, thankfully.

“Now, you asked me before in the medbay, how I could help you with the nightmares. I personally have found that meditation helps me with my nightmares. We are going to try and get you to master meditation in the hopes it will help you as well as it helped me.”

“You… have nightmares as well?” Hux asked, caught off guard by this small weakness in Ren.

“As you yelled out at me before, General, anyone can have nightmares. Yes, I have nightmares too, but we are not here to talk about me, are we? I happen to manage fine already. We are here because of you and your little fainting problem.”

Hux shot him a glare, which was rewarded with a grin.

“Now, relax, General. Close your eyes, control your breathing.”

“It’s hard to close my eyes and relax with you standing there,” Hux bit.

“You don’t trust me and I suppose I don’t blame you.” Ren said, then he sat down in front of Hux and mirrored his pose, “try, General.”

Hux closed his eyes. Trying to relax was even more difficult with Ren so close to him, but he was not about to say anything regarding that. Reluctantly, he tried to relax.

“Good, now think of nothing.”

“Of nothing,” Hux repeated, “that… is difficult.”

“It is at first, but it becomes easier after a while. Just relax, close your eyes and try to clear you mind. Picture a blackness in your mind. A nothingness. Try.”

Hux did. He studied Ren’s face for a short moment before closing his eyes again, willing himself to relax and think of nothing. He tried to picture black before his eyes.

It worked for a while, and Hux could feel himself relax more.

“General, I can see you thinking of the blueprints for that new base…”

Hux cursed. He hadn’t even known he was thinking about them, he hadn’t intended it.

“Try again.”

Hux did. Then soon enough…

“You are thinking about how you found Snoke, bisected. Try again.”

And again…

“Blueprints again, General.”

Hux cursed and opened his eyes. “I can’t not think of anything!”

“Clearly…” Ren said. He sounded amused.

Which was a nice contrast to the frustration Hux himself felt.

Ren got up from his seated position and looked down on Hux. “Try to practice more, I’ll see you here again at the start of your next rest cycle. I’ll try guiding you with the force to aid in your meditation then.”

“Why not now?”

“I have a meeting to attend, General. I do have other concerns than your sleeping habits. Being a Supreme Leader is important work, not that you’ll ever know,” he taunted. Then he left the room, leaving a fuming Hux behind.

“Kriffing bastard!” Hux shouted at the closed door.

That night he was plagued by dreams of Ren and him, sinking away into a black hole in space.

  
—

  
At the start of next rest cycle, Hux awaited Ren. Dressed in the loose pants and tank top. Ren hadn’t specifically requested the outfit that time but he supposed it was implied if they were to try meditating again.

When he heard the control panel on his door chime, he went over and pressed in his code, allowing Ren entrance as the doors swished open for him.

He too, was dressed in the training outfit and Hux let his eyes roam over Ren’s wide chest for a moment before he looked into his brown eyes.

“Meditation position,” Ren said, voice stern.

“Good evening to you too,” Hux said, “such manners, Supreme Leader.”

“This is hardly a social call,” Ren countered, “so I don’t see how my manners have any place in this. Now, if you will, in the meditation position, General.”

Hux shot Ren a glare but sat down, crossing his legs and straightening his back.  
Ren sat himself down before him, once again mirroring his position.

“Now, give me your hands.”

“What?” Hux uttered, not sure if he had heard that right.

Ren looked amused. “Your hands, General, lay them in my hands.”

He held his own hands open, palms up, motioning Hux to place his hands atop them.

“Uh…”

“Scared of a little hand holding, General?”

“Kriff,” Hux cursed, placing his hands atop of Ren’s.

Ren’s hands were warm and softer than he had imagined.

“Yours are too. Colder, though,” Ren smirked.

“In my head again, I see?” Hux said dryly.

“It’s necessary for the exercise, remember. I’ll need to know, if you start thinking about blueprints again.”

Hux rolled his eyes. “Tell me what is the meaning of us holding hands?”

“I’ll guide you with the force this time, to aid you in your meditation. To do that, I’ll need to have physical contact with you. This way,” Ren said, hinting at their hands, “is the best way to achieve that. Or would you rather I’d hold you someplace else?”

Hux really, really couldn’t help where his mind went at that and Ren coughed loud. A very slight blush crept on his cheeks.

“Such a dirty mind, General.”

“Stay out it then, if you don’t like what you find in it.”

“I never said I didn’t like it,” Ren said.

And then suddenly Hux wasn’t sure that was Ren coming on to him or not…  
Nor was he sure whether he wanted him to or not.

“Now, General. Just as we tried to attempt the last time. Relax, close your eyes and try to think of nothing. I will be inside of your mind and try to physically aid you with the force. Don’t be alarmed by how that feels.”

Hux had just closed his eyes when they sprang open again. “How that feels?”

“You’ll feel, well, it is… difficult to explain,” Ren said.

Hux closed his eyes again, curious now. Nervous as well.  
He tried to think of nothing, but that was almost impossible with Ren sitting so close and their hands touching.  
He wished it was just blueprints he was thinking about, but really couldn’t help himself with where his mind wanted to go.

Then a calm feeling overcame him, it started in his hands where they lay atop of Ren’s. A sort of warm tingly feeling. The same tingling he would sometimes feel when his leg had been asleep, but less ticklish. It was nicer than that, softer. More intimate as well. Caressing him, as it traveled from his hands further up and down his body, until every little inch of him was warm and tingly with that feeling.

He couldn’t help gasping out.

“ _Relax_ ,” Ren’s voice sounded in his head, “ _I’m here with you, relax. Think of nothing and focus on the feeling in your body_.”

Hux had to admit that the feeling in his body, that warm tingling, did help his wandering mind to focus. Soon he was starting to feel relaxed and calm. The feeling of the force connecting them became warmer and more present. Like little caressing ghosts touching his body, teasing him. Touching him everywhere at once.

Hux felt himself blush. “Ren… I-I’m…”

“It’s a normal reaction to have to this.”

Hux opened his eyes, just as Ren did. The both of them letting their eyes fall to the tented pants of the other.

Quickly, Hux pulled his hands away from Ren, the warm feeling abruptly faded away.

Ren got up, blushing as well. He didn’t address the fact that they were both hard. “I’ll see you again next rest cycle, General. Sleep well.”

That night, after masturbating because he was only human after all, Hux slept better than he had before. But it didn’t last and sometime after half of his rest cycle had passed, he woke violently. A nightmare that Ren was choking him to death was the cause of that.

  
—

 

“Any progress, General?” Ren asked him as he entered Hux’s rooms at the start of the next rest cycle.

Hux nodded, setting himself down cross-legged in the meditation position. “A bit. I had a dreamless sleep for the first half of my rest cycle. Then… uh… a nightmare plagued me again. I couldn’t fall asleep again after that.”

“Perhaps we should battle the source of these nightmares then. Let’s try something else, shall we. Place yourself down on the bed, on your back.”

Hux got up and did so, nervousness swirling in his belly as he placed himself on the bed.

“Move over a bit, so I can sit down,” Ren said.

Hux scooted over to the other side of the bed, making place for Ren to sit down. Watching as Ren sat down in his cross-legged position, facing him.  
It felt more intimate like this, on the bed.

“Give me one hand, the closest one. Put the other one in a relaxed position. Close your eyes and relax.”

It was with trepidation that Hux closed his eyes. He placed his one hand in the palm of Ren’s outstretched hand, placing the other next to him on the bed.  
He tried hard not to think about what had happened at the end of the previous session. But again, the closeness of Ren and their hands touching made that almost impossible.

“You shouldn’t feel embarrassed about that, General.”

The amusement in Ren’s voice was too much for him. “You were hard too!” Hux snapped.

That shut him up.

They started their joined meditation again, and the warm tingling feeling spread out again. Starting with his hands and spreading out through his whole body. Little touches caressing him all over. Hux didn’t know if he was imagining it, but it felt even stronger than it had felt before.

He heard Ren’s voice in his head again. “ _I’m going to enter your mind now, General and try to see your nightmares. Alright_?”

Hux was not sure if he wanted that. But he felt relaxed, the warm feeling making him feel good. He nodded.

He saw his own memories of the nightmares, hazy such as only dreams can be. Incomplete, broken. He felt as Ren shifted through them one by one. Saw what Ren saw.  
Snoke, bisected. Hux, bisected. Ren slicing Hux with the lightsaber. Ren choking Hux. Choking him on the bridge for all the other officers to see. Them, not helping him and just standing there looking as Hux was slowly being killed by Ren.

He felt a violent shock, which he supposed was Ren pulling back, because suddenly the warm buzzy feelings were gone.

Opening his eyes, he stared into Ren’s concerned face. “They’re almost all about me. About me killing you.”

Hux got up, turning on the bed to face Ren. “I don’t choose what I dream and don’t think yourself important now, all of a sudden, I’m-”

“You know I’d never, right?” Ren interrupted. He seemed genuinely hurt. “Do you really fear this? Do you really think I’d kill you?”

“You threw me away on the shuttle on Crait, I still have those bruises Ren! And you nearly choked me to death once before! Don’t make me seem irrational for having these dreams, when-”

“I was not myself that day, Hux!” Ren threw back.

“You dare make excuses?!”

“No! I’m not! I’m just saying that I acted in a way I wouldn’t, normally. Hux, please, I need you to know this. I need you to know that I’d never kill you!”

“I don’t know that,” Hux said soft, “I don’t trust you.”

“Give me your hand again,” Ren said, determination in his eyes.

“What? Why?” Hux asked.

“Just do it.”

Reluctant, Hux placed his hand in Ren’s. That warm feeling immediately taking hold of him again. Softer this time, gentler.  
Then, he was suddenly seeing memories that were not his own. Experiencing feelings, that were not his own.

He saw himself, through Ren’s eyes. On that first day they had met, when Ren’s shuttle had arrived for the first time in the docking bay of the Finalizer and Hux had been there to welcome him aboard. As Hux watched the memory play out, he could feel the immediate attraction that Ren felt as he saw Hux for that first time.

Just as Hux wanted to question this, another memory was shown.

It was of sometime later. Their first big fight. A battle of snark and insults.  
And through it all, he could feel how badly Ren wanted to stop that, stop Hux with a kiss.

Then another memory. Of Hux, training with his blaster in the simulator.  
Hux hadn’t know Ren had ever seen him train.  
Yet he could feel the arousal that Ren felt as he watched Hux, clad in only training pants and a top. Sweat glistening on his body. The memory followed Ren then, as he returned to his quarters, looking down on the bulge under his robes. Got onto his bed.

The memory stopped there. It all stopped there. Ren pulling his hands back.

They looked at each other. Hux now realizing how close they were sitting.

“I’ve had feelings for you ever since I first laid eyes on you,” Ren said soft, looking down at his hands, “and I can’t even begin to explain how much regret I have for all that I did that day after Snoke died. I can only tell you that Snoke had been inside of my head ever since I was young. Manipulating me, puling me to the dark. That day, when I choked you… It was the first time in years that my mind was completely my own again. I was confused, not myself because I hadn’t been my true self in such a long time. I’m not making excuses for myself, believe me. I just wanted to explain. I wanted to tell you that I could never kill you, Hux. And how sorry I am for what I did. I mean… I could have just told you to stim yourself to sleep, could I?”

Of all that Ren had just told him. Of all of it. The fact that Hux could have just stimmed himself to sleep, the fact that this hadn’t crossed his mind and instead he had gladly received Ren’s help instead, was what baffled him the most.

He could have stimmed himself to sleep…  
Why, in kriffing hell, hadn’t he thought about that?!

“Because you wanted to be near me as well, Hux,” Ren offered as an explanation, “I’ve seen it in your mind. I’ve seen… that I’m not alone in feeling the way that I feel.”

Hux gave him a long look. “Fine, you want me to tell you that I’ve thought about fucking you before? Well, there you have it. Yes, I have thought about that before, pleased?”

Ren grinned. “Very.”

Hux couldn’t help the little smile that pulled at his lips. “Smug bastard.”

“Can I finally shut you up with a kiss now?”

But it was Hux who leaned in first, claiming Ren’s lips in a kiss.  
Tentatively, he pressed his tongue forward, pressing against Ren’s lips. Ren opened for him and Hux licked into the warm wetness of his mouth. Both of them moaned.  
The kiss deepening. Ren softly biting his lower lip, which elicited a little whine from Hux.  
They broke away too soon, both of them gasping for air.

“I hope in time you’ll be able to trust me enough to not have those nightmares anymore Hux. Until then, I’ll just have to sleep right beside you, won’t I? In case you need the force to calm you down again. Because I wouldn’t want you fainting again on the bridge of my ship.”

“Oh, do shut up.”

“Make me.”

“Gladly,” Hux said, as he pulled Ren in for another kiss.


End file.
